Well, it was nice while it lasted. Blackpool, who spent a giddy few hours on top of the Premier League's nascent table last Saturday, experienced the flipside of life among the elite. The bigger picture for Ian Holloway's brutally dismantled team was summed up with half an hour to go when the scoreboard read 5-0 and on came Arsenal's two shiniest stars in the raucously welcomed Cesc Fábregas and Robin van Persie. What on earth can you do?
After their dazzling Premier League debut at Wigan, this was a completely different kettle of fish. Caviar after the chippy. "An absolute education," said Blackpool's manager. "I was relieved it wasn't 10, 12, 13, 14."
Even though Arsène Wenger's team are still finding their balance after the World Cup, and there is work to do in the transfer market, there remained an intimidating array of talent to contend with.
Two of the offensive players who have had their frustrations in recent years, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky, must have seemed to Blackpool like a different species to anything they had come across before. Walcott was so much more than a running machine, and displayed the invention and instincts that have not always come so naturally to him. His reward was a superb first hat-trick of his Arsenal career. Rosicky pulled the playmaker's strings with such elegance and enterprise, it seemed incredible that he is third choice in his favourite position behind Fábregas and Samir Nasri.
With Marouane Chamakh acting as a useful focal point, Arsenal began to purr, to synchronise their passing, and Blackpool never stood a chance.
Barring a couple of chances that fell to David Vaughan and Gary Taylor-Fletcher, this was a relentless lesson – albeit one that the full-throated visiting support seemed to enjoy with carefree abandon.
Walcott's hour on the pitch was a revelation. For his first strike, he sidefooted past Matthew Gilks with the directness and assurance that critics have cried out for him on a more regular basis. There was soon another indicator that the frustrations over Walcott's end product and decision-making are being ironed out, as he laid on fine chances for Andrey Arshavin and Chamakh.
The speed merchant ignored by Fabio Capello for the World Cup took his second with movement reminiscent of a young and confident Thierry Henry. He collected Jack Wilshere's pass, turned away from the nearest defender, and clipped an early shot past Gilks as freely as if he was playing in his back garden. His hat-trick arrived courtesy of a stylishly curled left-foot finish.
"He is more electric than he has been," said Wenger. "I like the fact he mixed well the final ball and finishing." "That's a sign that a player is more mature. Let's not forget that what he does is at a very high pace so it is not always easy to make decisions."
The Arsenal manager reckons Walcott has benefited from a prolonged summer break, and took the disappointment of an England snub as reason for motivation. "He had a good preparation for the first time in a long time. He takes life in a positive way. He sees the glass as half-full so he took it as another challenge. That's what's amazing about Theo."
Although Blackpool dared not complain about the defeat it nagged that the killer second goal was contentious. They cursed a moment of key decision-making from the referee, Mike Jones, in the 32nd minute. When Rosicky angled a fine pass towards the run of Chamakh, the Moroccan powered round the side of Ian Evatt, the last defender, and fell under the challenge. Initial contact was made just outside the box, but continued into the fringes of the area, and the official doled out double punishment with the award of a penalty and a red card for Evatt. Arshavin sent a rasping spot-kick into the corner.
While Holloway was confounded by the verdict, he was candid enough to admit it would not have changed the result, even if it could have changed the size of it. "We'd have lost the game to be honest," he said. "But we might not have been smarting quite so much. We'd have made a better fist of it."
Indeed, Wenger admired the way Blackpool's intentions were to play positively until it was obvious they could not cope with what loomed in front of them.
Arsenal were able to continue target practice in the second half. Abou Diaby skilfully lashed in Bacary Sagna's cross on the volley, and Chamakh was rewarded for his efforts when his downward header snuck underneath Gilks.
This might have had all the ingredients of a flat-track bully performance, but Wenger can be pleased that a team who have not always been proficient at killing teams off have shown that in their armoury.
That said, he will not be fooled that a handsome scoreline against 10 newly promoted men makes Arsenal the finished article. He hopes to strengthen the rearguard, knows Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny need more time to settle, and is aware he has to reintegrate Fábregas and Van Persie gently.
Holloway, who is eager to bring in some more players, would not mind some of those problems.
Source: Amy Lawrence, The Guardian on 21 Aug 10
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